Our Commitment

About Leap Tie

Passionate experts witha fresh perspective.

Leap Tie co-founders Sean and Michele Fagan have more than 40 years of combined business, marketing, and sales experience – and they’ve spent the past two decades focused exclusively on the death care profession.

We believe in our clients, their values and the services they provide to families and their communities. Our unprecedented perspective as a client advocate allows Leap Tie to provide informed, objective marketing management that combines cutting-edge technologies, current business processes and proven marketing methods in a new and innovative approach. This unique strategy elevates our clients’ relationships with families to preserve, protect and grow market share.

Our Team

We’re an adaptive crew of intelligent, creative and hard-workingpeople who are passionate about our clients’ success.

Sean Fagan, Co-Founder

Sean has built three successful businesses and has more than 30 years’ experience in sales and marketing with an entrepreneurial mentality. At Leap Tie, he is responsible for sales, sales training for client-staff, analytics and reporting on KPIs to clients.

His hobbies include hiking, gardening, cooking and his passion for buying and selling rare books. Happily married to Michele, and proud father of Stephanie and Max, Sean loves spending time with his family and being involved in what interests his children.

Michele Fagan, Co-Founder and President

Michele entered the death care profession immediately after graduating college. She worked in the field for four years before moving on to various marketing and sales roles in other industries. In 2012, she returned to her passion with the founding of Leap Tie. In her current role as president, Michele applies her 20+ years of marketing experience to the care of each provider with whom she is honored to work.

Michele’s sense of urgency ensures each person receives the attention they need. After serving the death care profession for over a decade, she understands families and the businesses that serve them follow no clock or vacation schedule.

Michele and her husband Sean are the parents of a son, Max, and a daughter, Stephanie. Devoted to their children, business and the future of this profession provides them with a fulfilling mission and life in Buford, GA.

Greg Barwald

Lead Designer

About Greg

Greg started designing 25 years ago after graduating from a private art school. He has been an integral part of Leap Tie since 2011, offering a unique perspective through a creative lens. As lead designer, Greg is responsible for providing a consistent look and feel to all marketing materials, staying current on trends and actively participating in the Leap Tie “Think Tank.”

Greg’s ability to marry the creative with the practical helps clients see their business in a whole new light. His work instills pride in who they are and what their brand represents to the families they serve.

Greg and wife Christine have a son, Carl. When Greg’s not at his computer, you can find him in the garden taking care of his Japanese Maples or on family road trips.

Kathleen Collins

Office Coordinator

About Kathleen

Kathleen is relatively new to the death care profession, but not to the corporate world. She has more than 25 years of experience in providing support and management functions within military and defense arenas. After a 10-year break to work and manage a farm, she returned to business.

Kathleen leverages her many years of general business operation experience to support Leap Tie employees and clients.

Kathleen and her husband Dan moved from Missouri to Georgia in 2016; they now live in Lawrenceville. The couple enjoys spending time with their grandchildren and taking motorcycle rides along many of Georgia’s winding, scenic roads. Kathleen is a passionate fiber artist and enthusiastically encourages hand-crafting in every medium.

Kiefer Davis

Account Executive

About Kiefer

Before, during and after his college years, Kiefer provided public relation and marketing services for various entities in the agricultural, sports and National/State Park industries. Inspired to make a difference in America’s death-denying culture, Kiefer pursued a career in the death care profession in 2016. As an account executive at Leap Tie, Kiefer is responsible for project management, coordination, innovation and delivering tailored solutions for a variety of clients.

Kiefer’s passionate, dedication and ability to flesh out a client’s vision have all attributed to his success in marketing/public relations and growing death care businesses.

Originally from the river lands of North Florida, Kiefer now resides outside of Atlanta, GA with his trusted K-9 companion, Sugmasterflex. Along with being an avid supporter of English Soccer Team, Liverpool F.C., his passions include hiking, cooking and experiencing new cultures and cuisines. Kiefer is also a revered Dungeon & Game Master in the Table Top gaming community.

John Johnston

Graphic Designer

About John

A seasoned visual artist, John has more than 20 years of experience spanning both the client and agency sides of the business. He has worked for print shops, a publication house and a direct marketing agency. For the past five years, he has focused exclusively on the death care profession.

John’s experience in fast-paced environments and vast knowledge of B2B and B2C marketing helps him deliver creative options to help clients grow their business.

John lives in Rochester, NY with his wife of 18 years and their two children: a 13-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son. When he’s not involved with the kids’ many sporting events, John enjoys cooking good food for the family, staying active and working with electronics.

Rob Marriage

IT Administrator

About Rob

Rob graduated from college with a degree in Journalism, soon abandoning that wildly lucrative field in favor of Information Technology (IT). Throughout his IT career, his roles have included technical writer, website developer, project manager, product manager and development manager. At Leap Tie, Rob handles data conversions between legacy systems and their replacements, and he also leads the Hello Shopper! development team.

Rob believes the true promise of technology is its seamless integration with our lives. To that end, he strives to make systems incredibly user friendly and help clients understand the value they provide.

Rob is originally from England—people say they can tell when he speaks to his “mum” on the phone. He lives in Rochester, NY with his wife, five kids and two dogs in a woefully undersized house.

Chad Maurer

Producer

About Chad

Chad has been in marketing and video production since graduating college in 1994. Working at six different TV stations and for hundreds of clients across a variety of professions, he’s developed a unique style of video storytelling. He began working with Leap Tie in 2012, and is constantly championing new and creative ways to showcase our clients.

As a video producer, Chad believes in the power of moving images. A client’s story is shared by not only what is seen or heard, but by the feeling you get from watching a video. No other medium has that power, and it’s a responsibility he doesn’t take lightly.

Chad and his wife, Jennifer, are the parents of four. When they aren’t carting kids around to tennis and softball, they are enjoying the mountains or just taking a break on the couch.

Diana Nichols

Webmistress

About Diana

Diana has been building sites since 1995, when the web was just a toddler. The challenge of staying up to date with this evolving technology keeps her on her toes. In 2016, Diana brought her talents and expertise to the Leap Tie team and now works on maintaining and upgrading client websites.

She facilitates a WordPress Developer Meetup each month, is an organizer of WordCamp Atlanta, and is very active within the Atlanta WordPress community.

Diana has also been a life coach, a business and creativity coach, taught marketing to Realtors, owned an advertising agency, and produced national trade shows and conferences.

She lives in Smyrna, Georgia, with her SO Mitch, where she regularly spoils her grandchildren and dabbles at being an artist.

Matt Rankin

Account Manager

About Matt

Matt spent the first 20 years of his career working in advertising for firms in Connecticut and New York. He managed the full lifecycle of projects from concept through final delivery, working with internal agency teams and clients. His clients include national and international brands spanning multiple industries: Health care, food and beverage, insurance and computer tech companies, just to name a few. In 2015, Matt joined the Leap Tie team to manage multiple client accounts and support marketing efforts.

His positive attitude and results-focused work style enables him to consistently exceed client needs.

Matt and his wife Brandonne are proud parents of their son, Will, and enjoy living in the South Shore of Boston, MA.

Myra Sharp

Promotional Products Specialist

About Myra

Myra began her career working in the sales and marketing industry over 30 years ago, working directly with business clients to produce potent marketing campaigns with creative branded merchandise. In 2015, Myra joined the Leap Tie family as our Promotional Products Specialist.

Myra offers a unique blend of experience from the branding, advertising, graphics, public relations, and event planning industries. Her focus on B2C marketing solutions helps companies build and promote their brand with merchandise that is beneficial in their clients’ everyday lives.

Myra lives in Buford, GA with her husband, son, daughter, and adorable rescue dog. She has a passion for horses, especially show jumping and racing—don’t disturb her during the Kentucky Derby!

Scott Wolf

Web Designer

About Scott

Before joining Leap Tie three years ago, Scott worked on the interactive side of advertising. He has more than 15 cumulative years of experience concepting, designing and building both websites and apps for Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike.

Formally trained as a designer and self-taught as a front-end developer, Scott combines an eye for aesthetic with the ability to bring those designs to life in a web browser.

Scott is nestled in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York, just outside of Rochester with his wife Julie and two Vizslas. The couple enjoys kayaking and running for six months out of the year—and shoveling snow and skiing for the other six.

Chase Johnson

Intern

About Chase

Chase is an Oregon State University student on track to complete his B.A. in Business Administration and Management by 2019. He began interning at Leap Tie in the summer of 2018 and immersed himself entirely in the death care profession.

Chase’s greatest strength is his adaptability. When faced with new situations or different environments, he learns and adjusts instantaneously. Clients love working with Chase because he’s passionate about what he does, listening intently to their needs and absorbing their brand very quickly.

Chase hails from Scappoose, Oregon. An avid outdoorsman, he goes hiking almost every single weekend.